


Stick Your Head Out

by schneefink



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 12:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5417099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schneefink/pseuds/schneefink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil wasn't sure how well he'd fit in with his new team. Rumors around the league said that Malkin was a bear, and he didn't know what else they had in the locker room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stick Your Head Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [downjune](https://archiveofourown.org/users/downjune/gifts).



> Happy Festivus!  
> Many thanks to snickfic for making this story better.

"This is where we sharpen the skates…"

Fifteen minutes into the tour of the facilities Phil realized that Dana was probably a house gnome. The possessive pride with which the man showed off his territory was a strong clue. Rumors said that having house gnomes on the equipment staff was good luck, and Phil hoped he would find out that it was true.

Sid joined them when Dana showed him the training rooms, and at first Phil wasn't sure why. They'd already talked at dinner the day before. 

"Over here is the freezer with Beau's blood bags," Dana gestured, "and here are ear plugs if you want them. But Zatkoff has really good control, you don't need to worry." 

Phil nodded and looked up to see Sid watching him carefully. He shrugged, trying to convey that he didn't care. There were still people who found vampires creepy, but as long as they didn't try to feed from him Phil figured it wasn't his problem. He didn't know if Zatkoff was a siren or banshee or something else, but if it was so freely talked about he'd probably find out soon.

"Just tell us if there's anything special you need," Dana said.

Phil nodded again and wondered if the team expected everyone to talk about their Heritage openly. They'd be able to tell he had enough to most likely have some kind of manifestation. Sid would probably ask.

Dana continued his tour and showed him a corner of the workout room that had a few realistic-looking branches and perches. "We have two pools, over there," he said, "one of them is human-only. You do not want to use the other one when Geno is nearby." 

"Yeah?" Phil asked.

Sid snorted. "He'll make you regret it. Sometimes even when you're in the other pool, but we've been trying to train him out of it."

League rumors had it that Malkin was a bear, and yeah, Phil could see how that would be a tight fit. 

"Same temper off the ice as on it?" he asked, and Sid laughed. 

Sid stayed while Dana finished the tour and then invited Phil to lunch. He didn't ask about Phil's Heritage once. It was unexpected, and nice.

\---

Phil didn't Shift much in Boston, and never around his teammates. Many of them had Heritages that were intimidating to him as a rookie: Savvy's colorful magic, Z's lion and Bergy's cougar, Tuuks being Tuuks and so on. At least one guy on the team would have made fun of him, and he wasn't ready for that. It was easier to just Shift at home.

They didn't have many Shifters in Toronto, but a bunch of magicians, who thought it would be fun to make the lockerroom literally sparkle after wins. He got Stella, who cuddled with him no matter if he was Shifted or not, and he loved her even more for that.

He told Bozie about his Shift form, and that was fine. Then he told the whole team, and that was less fine. They all said all the right things, but he never got over the feeling that some of them thought less of him for it. Idiots, all of them. Turtles were fucking awesome. 

After a few years in Toronto he started Shifting more often. There was no clearer sign that he didn't want to talk to anyone, and he felt like that a lot. The coaching staff wasn't happy, called him antisocial, but fuck them.

\---

The first time Phil saw Flower Shifted was during training camp. He came to the rink in the morning and saw a big cat with fuzzy ears and long hind legs rubbing against Sid's legs and purring. When it saw Phil it sat down and looked at him with its head tilted. 

Sid bent down to scratch under the cat's chin and it half-closed its eyes in pleasure. 

"Flower!" Geno called, entering behind Phil. "You're cat again? You lazy already?" 

The cat – Flower – made a sudden jump in Geno's direction and swiped playfully at his legs. Geno evaded him, laughing. 

"Canada lynx," Sid said when he saw Phil looking. 

"Kind of suits him," Phil said, and Sid nodded. Phil wondered how many articles had been written about Flower's cat-like athleticism in the net by reporters who didn't know about his Shift form. He bet Flower found it funny. 

After that he saw the lynx around every few days or so. One of the D-men brought some kind of remote-controlled cat toy one day, and everyone agreed that it had been hilarious, even the guy after he found all his clothes and stuff plastered with cat stickers. The only thing that Flower would hold a grudge over was being called "kitty", Duper warned Phil helpfully. Laser pointers were okay, but Flower would get him back when he least expected it.

"And no catnip," Kuni added. "It's not that funny, and it's really not worth the consequences." 

"Besides, Sid and Geno will make you regret it," Duper said, nodding. "And Tanger. And Kuni and me."

"Just don't be an ass. There are lines," Kuni said. 

"Yeah, sure," Phil said. "Appreciate the info." He could appreciate protective teammates, even though he was irritated at the thought that he might try to piss his goalie off on purpose. He was a dog person, but he liked cats just fine.

\---

The first time Phil saw Geno Shifted was after a win. First he heard Dana scolding Geno in a resigned voice that he wasn't supposed to do that, then Phil walked into the hallway and saw a wet bear standing in the middle of it. 

So the rumors had been right. The bear – Geno – saw Phil and immediately stood up on his two hind legs, like he wanted to impress. He could only hold the position for a few seconds, then he fell back down again and gave Phil a smug look. Phil hadn't known bears could look like that.

'Well?' the bear seemed to say. 

"Hi G," Phil said, suppressing a grin. Geno was apparently in the awkward teenage bear phase – Phil hadn't even known there was such a thing. He was too big to be a cub, but much smaller and thinner than a fully grown bear. His face was thinner, almost more reminiscent of a teddy bear. 

In short, he looked cute. Phil was pretty sure 'cute' was not what Geno wanted to look like. He filed it away as future chirping material. 

Geno shook himself off, water droplets flying everywhere – Dana only sighed – and walked a few steps, then stopped and looked at Phil. Phil obediently followed him through the workout rooms and to the pools, which were both empty. 

"Something you want to show me, buddy?" Phil asked.

Geno jumped into the pool with a huge splash, too quickly for Phil to step back. He then immediately turned around in the water to see how wet Phil had gotten, clearly laughing at him. 

Phil had instinctively raised his shoulders and lowered his head, and he relaxed again with an exhale. Geno seemed so happy with himself that he didn't even get mad.

"Got me good, eh," he said with a laugh. Sid and Dana had tried to warn him, he remembered.

"Even better with rookies," Geno said, after Shifting back effortlessly. "One time Sunshine in pool and not pay attention, then, boom!" He illustrated by punching the water with a fist and grinned widely. "Bears are best."

"No they're not," Phil said automatically. 

"Oh?" Geno asked, one eyebrow arched. "I need to splash you again?" 

For a moment Phil thought about simply Shifting and plunging into the water. He didn't think Geno – or any of the guys on the team, for that matter – would react badly. But he hadn't thought so in Toronto either.

"I'm good, thanks," he said instead and walked back to the locker room.

"You see, I get you!" Geno called after him.

\---

If there was a pattern to when Geno Shifted, Phil hadn't discovered it yet. Sometimes there was a bear wandering around the arena several days in a row, sometimes it didn't show up for a week or two. 

"That's just Geno," Kuni shrugged. "It doesn't have anything to do with the moon phases either, we checked."

Phil automatically turned around to Duper, who must have heard them and turned his eyes a brighter yellow. Phil was pretty sure that was the extent of his werewolf Heritage. 

Slowly Phil was starting to learn what the rest of his teammates could do. Cully never Shifted at the arena, but he'd mentioned that he was a bat, and please no Batman jokes, they got old really quickly. Apparently he didn't like the acoustics at the rink, "and I'm pretty sure Tishy could kill me if he doesn't pay attention," he added. Zatkoff looked faintly guilty, but it was probably true. 

Kuni and Tanger had traces of elf Heritage, Lovejoy was a decent magician, Perron's mom was a necromancer, and Spronger was part dwarf. Spronger had revealed that by accident and then immediately tensed, awaiting the reactions. There had been a brief pause, but nobody had said anything. There hadn't been any bad jokes the following days either, just "Gimli" written on his stall once, and Spronger had started to relax. 

It was a good sign. Phil looked around the room and wondered how they'd react if he told them about himself. Why would they react differently to a turtle than to a dwarf?

Nobody had asked him about his own Heritage, not even Sid, even though he was pretty sure they were curious. A few of them had seen the house he bought and had surely noticed the large pond in the garden, but they hadn't commented on it. He wondered what they were speculating. Not enough to try and find out, though.

He was bored at the rink one day and decided to check out the pool. Just in case, he told himself. It couldn't hurt. He found water calming.

When he got there he saw that the bigger pool was already occupied. Geno was paddling around as a bear on the shallower end, and on the other end someone was floating just below the water. Hornqvist, Phil recognized when he walked closer.

Geno walked out and shook himself, water flying everywhere, before Shifting back. "Phil! You coming to swim with us?" He followed Phil's eyes toward Hornqvist. "His Ancestors were some kind of seapeople. He likes swim, but not alone, Heritage not very strong." 

"And you actually let him swim in peace?" Phil asked dryly. 

"Of course!" Geno laughed, pretending to be offended. "Bear is best swimmer."

Phil disagreed. "I didn't want to interrupt," he said instead. He wasn't even sure what he'd wanted to do at the pool.

"No, no, come in!" Geno insisted. "Hang out with bear, will be fun."

Geno the bear, Phil had already found out, liked to play, especially with pucks and balls. Phil looked around and saw a few balls and foam noodles in one corner of the room. He walked over and picked up one of the balls. Hornqvist was still underwater in the bigger pool and presumably wouldn't be happy about Geno jumping in, but the second pool Dana had told him was for human forms only.

"Throw in here," Geno said dismissively. "Sid maybe complain, but Sid's Plain, he don't understand real playing."

"Sid's Plain?" Phil asked, startled. Many people barely manifested, but only very few had no Heritage at all, and rumors said that even fewer of them were in leadership positions.

"You didn't know?" Geno asked, surprised. He narrowed his eyes. "Problem?"

"No," Phil promised. "I don't care. Not my business, right?" Anyone's Heritage, or lack of it, was their own problem. Geno obviously thought the same.

"Good," Geno said, visibly relaxing. A moment later he was a bear, looking up at Phil impatiently and stomping on the tile with one foreleg. Phil threw the ball into the second pool and Geno immediately jumped in after it. This time Phil was safe outside the splash zone. 

Geno looked cute as a bear. Cuddly, almost, and Phil regretfully decided that he couldn't tell anyone. Well, maybe Amanda.

\---

Some of the guys on the team talked a lot before and after practice, even more in Pittsburgh than in Toronto. Phil didn't, never had. He was fine just sitting there and letting the chatter wash over him, and they didn't seem to mind that he wasn't paying attention unless someone called him by name or threw something at him. It was relaxing.

He wasn't listening that morning either until someone mentioned an aquarium. Phil blinked and looked up. After a few moments he understood that Duper was talking about visiting the zoo with his kids during the last off day. 

"And Lola, man, every time she falls in love with new animals. Jellyfish, flamingoes… They have these big turtles there, and she asked me if she could ride one."

Phil snorted. 

Horny laughed. "That would be adorable," he said.

"No it wouldn't," Phil said. "Turtles are not for riding." 

"Aw, c'mon," Horny said, and someone else called: "Something you want to tell us, Phil?"

Phil tensed up immediately. Then he reminded himself that they were probably expecting a stupid prank story, and forced himself to exhale. 

He could make up a story. He had enough stories about turtles from when he was little, especially from soon after he manifested. Or he could distract them with some random turtle facts, he knew many. 

He'd taken a bit too long to answer. Guys were probably looking at him funny, but he didn't want to look up and check. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Sid had stopped in the middle of the lockerroom and was watching him, probably to see whether or not he needed to step in. 

Screw this. He didn't want to spend the next several years hiding a part of himself. These were good guys, and it would be fine. And if it wasn't, he'd just have to deal with it. 

"It's undignified," he said, looking up. "And if anyone ever tries to pick me up when I'm Shifted without my permission, I'll bite your finger off."

Immediately afterwards he bent down to tie his skate laces. There was a moment of silence; he knew it probably only lasted a second, but it seemed much longer to him. 

"Who can pick up a turtle anyway?" someone asked. "They're huge!" 

"There are smaller turtles, you idiot," Flower said.

"Don't worry, Phil, I'm sure you prettiest turtle of them all," Geno said loudly, and the guys laughed. 

Geno was grinning, and it was somehow not annoying. "Fuck off, G," Phil said nevertheless and groped around for something to throw at him. 

That was it. Now the team knew, and he'd just have to deal with the consequences. 

He was braced for stupid jokes or condescending looks afterwards, but nothing happened. Nobody mentioned his Shift form during or after practice, or the next day, or the next. The team even played dumb pranks on Perry sometimes, someone kept leaving small skeletons in his locker, but nothing on Phil. He wondered if Sid or Geno had said anything, or if the guys had figured out on their own that Phil wasn't comfortable with turtle jokes.

Probably not the latter. They were hockey players, most of them weren't that smart. 

The next time the team went out to dinner together someone ordered the seafood pasta for him without asking. Phil only rolled his eyes. He could live with that level of joke, and besides, the pasta was delicious.

\---

There wasn't any special occasion when Phil finally did Shift at the rink. They'd just lost a game, but not badly, and the team in general was playing well. He was feeling a little out of sorts and decided to go to the pool, maybe just dangle his legs in, maybe swim a few rounds, and he was only a hallway away when he suddenly felt the desire to Shift. So he did. 

He got out of his clothes with the ease of long practice and blinked several times, orienting himself, before continuing to crawl more slowly toward the pool. It probably took him a few minutes; time ran differently when he was a turtle. The arena also smelled differently, he'd have to get used to it. At the pool he hung over the edge for a short moment, then he slipped into the water and swam. 

It was nice. 

After a while a large body jumped into the water. Phil dove deep and instinctively tried to hide at the smooth bottom of the pool. The person climbed out again, and when Phil finally dared to swim closer he only saw two long legs lazily moving back and forth. Someone was sitting at the edge of the pool, waiting.

Phil thought about swimming until whoever it was went away. A few weeks ago he almost certainly would have. Instead he crawled out at the shallow end and Shifted back, and a towel hit him in the face almost immediately.

"You waddle on land and swim very well, just like penguin! Perfect. Clearly you meant to be here," Geno declared.

Phil laughed and shrugged. Tension he hadn't realized he was still carrying melted away at Geno's easy acceptance of his Shift.

"Next time we can swim together! We have a lot of fun," Geno promised.

"Sure," Phil said, and to his mild surprise he actually meant it.


End file.
